Ethereal Blast
by xKuroSeraphimx
Summary: Nel Zelpher's world turns upside down, literally, after an accident that happened in the workshop of Peterny. Then she wakes up to find Albel the Wicked in her bed! And what's this? Why does Elicoor seem so different?
1. Chapter I

**Authoress Notes: **Well, hello everyone! Yes, yes, I should be working on my other fics, but I had this story in my mind for a while. So, I hope that whoever reads this will enjoy it. I shall try my best.

**Disclaimer: **StarOcean rightfully belongs to SquareEnix/Tri-Ace/Ubi-Soft

**Pairing(s): AlbelxNel**, CliffxMirage, FaytxSophia or FaytxMaria, probably

**Plot/Summary: **Nel Zelpher's world turns upside down, literally, after an accident that happened in the workshop in Peterny. Then she wakes up to find Albel the Wicked in her bed! And what's this? Why does Elicoor seem so different?

**Ethereal Blast**

**By: xKuroSeraphimx**

**((start prologue))**

**Chapter 1**

Nel Zelpher, agent of Aquaria and expert runologist and Crimson Blade, was _not_, having the best of days.

Literally.

It had been a year since Luther's defeat, and Elicoor was still on its way towards recovery from the events that had happened during the Creator's act of sending the Enforcers upon them. And ever since, Nel had been working on her duty of watching over anything suspicious in the town of Peterny. For the most part, it was just merchants worrying needlessly over goods that need to be imported or exported on a specific date. Nothing concerning what the report Clair had sent about the restlessness that seemed suspicious. Yet on some occasions, Nel did find something interesting or two, which led to the result of the problem being taken care of, and then, a truckload of reports due next.

Of course, Nel wasn't the one to complain about working. But there were some people that could handle the stress that she was experiencing and not snap. Sure, the last few days she seemed a little agitated, but it was nothing for anyone to worry about.

But as of right now…

When Nel was patrolling her rounds of Peterny, she found that a large man, probably in his late thirties was throwing things around in the workshop in a mad frenzy and shouting until his face turned a light purple. It seemed to Nel that he was a new inventor and wanted to try things out right away, but was screwing things up with what he wanted, and began throwing a tantrum like a child, harassing the other inventors that were designated to this town's workshop. When things got really out of hand, the red-haired runologist had to step in and intervene while ordering the other inventors to leave so that she could deal with the enraged man.

Needless to say, the Killer Chef and Louise the Diviner were rather annoyed with having to leave their work, as with all the other inventors, but obeyed anyway. Now Nel was left to deal with this large, burly man who was ruining things. Of course, the Crimson Blade maiden could easily take him down despite his size, but slicing and dicing the poor man to ribbons would end in bad results, and frying him with a powerful thunder spell was out of the question. So, the red-haired Crimson Blade was left to the option of dodging, kicking and punching every chance she got.

'… _Wonder what the others would do if they were in this situation…_' she thought after evading a chair being thrown at her.

Speaking of Fayt and company, it had been a while since she got a visit from each of them. Fayt visited her once, but that was just a small visit, for he had to go back to join up with Sophia and his aunt, but before that, he gave her brief synopsis about how everyone else was faring. He and Sophia were taking care of things back on Earth; Cliff was floating around space, doing friendly negotiations with Lancar and several other people, Mirage sometimes had tagged along with him, but had to take care of the dojo, Maria was off trying to take things easy and avoid any of the Federations politics, and Peppita was going around, giving colorful plays and dances with the Rosetti Troupe, finally gaining a debut and becoming an instant star.

Which then turned the conversation as to how the other Elicoorians that had traveled with Fayt were doing. Well, Adray was being his fine, fellow self, trying to find a suitable husband for his daughter Clair, although, he had to do it in secret to avoid another bashing from said daughter, Roger was still doing mischievous things, more Real Man contests that always had him up with trouble and Albel... well, Albel was serving his country of course. What information about him would interest Nel in the slightest?

Nel's train of thought ended abruptly when the sounds of glass being broken were heard. The enraged inventor was now shoving away vials that contained several liquids for Alchemy and Compounding, but Nel's emerald-colored eyes widened slightly when she saw the man grab two full vials that contained a green and purple product and threw them at the fire.

With the knowledge of Alchemy in her brain, Nel tried her best to stop the action but was a second too late. The vials reached the fire, broke and sizzled the fire, making loud, popping and cracking noises before….

**BOOM!**

**((scene change))**

Clair Lasbard tapped the tip of the archaic pen on the piece of parchment she had before her, her tongue out of the corner of her mouth, her brows drawn in a tight line in thought. Obvious to the naked eye, one could see that the gray-haired Crimson Blade was in deep thought and it would not be wise to disturb her from her current task. Finally, after a long time of thought and countless tapping on one point on the paper, Clair threw her hands up in defeat, letting out an exasperated sigh. Now Clair realized that writing a report was one thing, but writing a love letter for Farleen was just…

"Clair!" Tynave called, bursting in the conference room, gasping for air, startling Clair so badly that she neatly, with some newfound strength, broke the pen she had in her hand in half.

After getting over her shock, and making a mental note to tell everyone in Arias to _knock _before they enter, Clair straightened herself and stared at the orange-haired subordinate of her friend Nel in the eyes and noticed that Tynave's face was stricken with concern and shock that Clair knew that it was serious.

"What's wrong, Tynave? Did something happen?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

Tynave took a moment to steady herself and take a deep breath, making it obvious that she had probably ran all the way from where she was to Arias nonstop. "It's Peterny! An explosion happened in the workshop down at the west side of the town and last I checked, Lady Nel was _inside _the building when it happened!"

Clair's hazel-colored eyes widened and immediately, she stood up from her seat. "Get Farleen and several soldiers to go investigate and help any civilians that could have been injured. I'll be there with you."

"Yes ma'am!" With that, Tynave the left the room in a hurry, leaving a distressed and worried Clair behind her.

**((scene change))**

It was surprisingly warm all around her.

_What…? What's going on? What happened…? Wait…_

Nel tried to open her eyes, but found that they were too heavy for some odd reason to even lift them. Plus, her face was against a soft, plush pillow that it made her head feel even more sleepier and heavier than it was before she began to wake up.

… _Why am I here? What about Peterny… That man…_

Also, her body was sprawled all over a soft bed; the blanket pulled over her head as to not let the light strike her face. Why was she not on rubble or be burned alive? Why did she still feel her limbs and no pain shooting through her body in torrents?

What _is going on?_

Deciding that she was at least still alive, Nel would begin to question things later on. But right now, all she needed was sleep, and…

_Beep! Beep!_

What the…?

_Beep! Beep!_

What the hell was that?

_BEEP! BEEP!_

_What _was making that damnable noise?

_BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, **BEEP!**_

Taking no more of that annoying beep, Nel sluggishly popped a hand from the covers and searched for where the sound was coming from. Her hand searched around the front of the bed that had a wooden board before it where the sound was mostly coming from. Her hand tapped the board impatiently before Nel decided to at least peer from the blankets and look up and she found what looked to be a clock and smashed her hand on top of the clock, silencing it, and Nel was relieved to find that it was silent again.

That was until another hand, slightly larger and the fingers slender, landed on hers.

Immediately, Nel's emerald-colored eyes snapped back open at contact and she scooted away from the hand with a loud yelp, throwing the covers and distorting the sheets around her.

'_Who… Who could have--?_' Nel's mind was in a state of shock and panic, millions of questions in her head forming as to whose hand could have been on hers, and _why _were they in _her _bed!

A groan—a very _familiar _groan—cut her thoughts as the covers next to her stirred and rose, only to slide off and reveal a mat of dark, silky hair that ended in blonde tips, a tall, slim body that was covered with a dark tang top, and a long, slender arms—the left bandaged at his bicep, and a pair of crimson-colored eyes slid open from their slumber and began to peer at her face.

"Nel? What the hell…? What happened to you? Did you have a bad dream?" Oh, and that voice. How well she knew that deep, silky voice that used to taunt and criticize her fighting capabilities.

Yet why was he saying her name…? 

Her mouth opened and closed, opened and closed like a fish out of water for a while, finding that she could not find her voice. The man in front of her rubbed his eyes with his good arm before he looked at her with a questioning, almost concerned look on his face.

"Nel? Hello, did you hear me? You look like you've seen a ghost." He said, gazing at her eyes.

Finally, Nel found her voice again and she screamed, "**_ALBEL NOX! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED!_**"

**((end chapter))**

Well… There you go! Hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Well? Good? Bad? Sucks? If you want the next, click on that button down there and review! Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

**Authoress Notes:** Well, you wanted it you got it! Thank you all for the magnificent reviews for this story! But enough of my talks please enjoy this second installment to my story!

**Disclaimer: **StarOcean rightfully belongs to SquareEnix/Tri-Ace/Ubi-Soft

**Pairing(s): AlbelxNel**, CliffxMirage, FaytxSophia or FaytxMaria, probably

**Plot/Summary: **Nel Zelpher's world turns upside down, literally, after an accident that happened in the workshop in Peterny. Then she wakes up to find Albel the Wicked in her bed! And what's this? Why does Elicoor seem so different?

**Ethereal Blast**

**By: xKuroSeraphimx**

**((start chapter))**

**Chapter 2**

Thick, black smoke emerged from the burning debris that began to slowly swirl around the west part of Peterny. Local guards and many pedestrians tried their best to calm or fully douse the hot flames but it only led to little being saved as the fire seemed to move over some parts of the houses adjacent to it, while others played bystanders at the sight before them.

Truly, it was scary.

Clair Lasbard finally reached this part of town a few short hours after Tynave had given her information about the accident. Her hazel colored eyes searched among the many heads as she politely pushed through the crowd that had gathered in a semi-circle around the accident to get a better view of the situation, but mostly she was hoping, and praying that Nel was still around.

Once the gray-haired Crimson Blade maiden finally shifted through the crowd, Clair made a quick scan of the area ahead of her and her eyes widened at what was standing before the ignited flames.

"Y-You!" Clair called, a look of bewilderment crossing her features.

**((scene change))**

To say that Nel Zelpher was surprised would've been an understatement.

No, she was downright _SHOCKED._

Well, who wouldn't be if you suddenly found the man that you despised during a war in your bed? Not to mention that same man calling you by your first name instead of 'maggot', 'fool', 'worm', _or _'Aquarian scum?' Oh, Nel was surely surprised.

And if it weren't for Nel's better judgment, she would be screaming every gutter word and profanity at Albel the Wicked right now.

And speaking of Albel the Wicked…

Right now, Albel Nox had his hands over his ears at the redhead's sudden outburst at him sharing a bed with her. What the _hell_ was wrong with her, he thought. First thing he woke up, and then in the next second, she screams at him. Obviously, she wasn't right in head now.

Albel looked straight in her eyes and wished he hadn't for a moment. The look on Nel's face would have frozen hell twice over. She was breathing heavily, her deep, emerald-colored eyes wide with fury and surprise, a scary mix one would say if it was coming from someone like Nel, and she looked ready to explode again and beat him to a bloody pulp.

'_Right… First things first… TRY to calm her down…_' he thought as he slowly, cautiously, set his hands away from his ears.

The dark blonde-haired man opened his mouth to speak, but Nel beat him to it. "**_ANSWER ME, NOX! WHAT THE 'HELL' ARE YOU DOING IN MY 'BED'?_**" she shrieked, causing his ears to vibrate again.

Immediately, annoyance sparked within Albel at the outburst, but quickly leashed in his temper, knowing that if he answered back with a tone that matched anger, she would no doubt decapitate him, even though he wouldn't actually let her do that without a fight.

"Listen, Nel—"

But Nel refused to listen. "**_WHAT ARE YOU PLOTTING, NOX! IF THIS IS SOME TWISTED JOKE THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO PULL ON ME, YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING, YOU DAMN BASTA—_**"

This time, Albel could take no more of this senseless shouting and finally got the courage to speak, "**_IF YOU'VE FORGOTTEN, I'M YOUR HUSBAND, NEL! AND I HAVE THE RIGHT TO SHARE A DAMN BED WITH MY 'WIFE', DON'T YOU THINK?_**"

Utter silence filled the room soon afterwards.

Albel finally reigned in his temper again, taking a few deep, calming breaths before he peered at her face.

It was blank, totally, completely blank. Her skin had gotten pale than a mid-summer moon's light, her eyes had shrunk to small little dots in their sockets, and her body went rigid like ice while her jaw was hanging loosely from its usual place.

Oh, this didn't look so good….

Something inside Nel had caused her to just…freeze up. It felt as though her spirit had just flown out of her body, leaving a lump of flesh in its wake. Maybe it had, maybe it hadn't. Maybe it had just shrunk so deep inside her body at what he said, she couldn't find it anymore. She didn't know. But his words kept repeating slowly in her head, her blood seemed to have stopped circulation throughout her whole body for her to even move an inch.

'_Husband… Bed… Albel… Nox… My… My… H-Husband…_' was what Nel was thinking about right now. But in all actuality, her mind was in a state of disarray at his words, yet thankfully, it didn't reflect the expression the red-haired Crimson Blade was having on the outside.

Basically, Nel was pressing the 'holy shit' button in her sanity.

Nel giggled slightly. Well… Let's not say 'giggled', more like a maniacal, crazy, Dr. Jackal-Mister Hyde sort of giggle combined with the added insanity only Nel could provide when she was in this sort of situation.

Which, in this case, Nel never _had _been in this sort of situation, so in short, the outcome would be unpredictable.

And possibly, not pretty.

The redhead began to speak in a small, raspy voice that spooked even Albel the Wicked out of his wit. "H-Husband…? You… You said husband? Why… That's a-absurd! Not true! What evidence do you have of this… this… '_Husband'_ thing anyway?"

Albel stared down at her, completely scared at how she was taking this, all because of him waking up next to her. What was wrong with her, he wondered. Not once had she acted this way after just waking up in the morning.

Unless…

Letting out an exasperated sigh, and hoping that the heavens above would keep him safe, Albel slowly lifted his bandaged left hand, showing the gold band that circled his ring finger to Nel.

Nel stared long and hard at the thick gold band that encircled Albel the Wicked's left ring finger. If possible, her eyes shrunk even more at the sight of the ring on his hand, and for a fleeting moment, glanced at her own left hand and found a ring that had an emerald stone between two hard diamonds rest on the base of her own ring finger before her attention reverted back to Albel's face, staring at him as if he was some sort of strange creature that popped out of nowhere.

'… _Husband… Albel… Wife… Oh, Apris… **NO**…_'

Before she knew it, all went black.

**((scene change))**

Humming a soft tune to himself, Cliff Fittir playfully pushed the doorbell to his friend's house, waiting patiently for the occupant of the house to open their door while holding a small bouquet of flowers in his other hand. Next to him, carrying a small med kit was his long time friend, Mirage Koas who also eagerly waited to have the door before them open. No response came to them and Cliff pushed the doorbell once again and decided to have a small conversation with the woman next to him.

"Are you really sure that she would be waking up soon? Remember that the accident was pretty bad, and even though she fully recovered and got out of the hospital, she needs more rest than we—"

"Cliff," Mirage interrupted politely. "Don't worry about it. Knowing her, she's probably up and about arguing with Albel right—"

The door finally opened, revealing a thoroughly annoyed Albel with an unconscious Nel in his arms.

"—now…" Mirage finished, surprise lighting up hers and Cliff's faces at the sight before them. "Albel! What happened to Nel?" She questioned, motioning a bit closer to him while examining the redhead for anything that might have caused her harm.

Albel took a deep intake of breath and replied through gritted teeth, "I don't know… One moment we wake up, the next, she's shouting at me about _why _I'm in the same bed as her."

"Say what? What the hell did you do _now_, Albel?" Cliff asked, glaring at the dark-haired man.

Albel glared back at him, double the intensity put into it. "How should I know, fool? You know that she's just recovering from her accident months ago. It could've done something to her head to have her yelling at me and in the next, pass out right in front of my eyes. I did nothing wrong!"

Mirage glared at both of the men, causing their little spat to end. "That's enough you two. We need to get Nel back in to recuperate. Come on, Albel." She ordered, ushering them back in.

Immediately, Albel did as he was told, settling Nel back in bed before Mirage suddenly shooed him and Cliff out of the room and slamming the door in their faces. Then, Albel was sipping a cup of coffee with the blonde, muscular man, with a deep frown on his face.

"Yo man, sorry about what I said back there." Cliff said after a long pause of silence between them in the kitchen.

Albel merely shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee.

"It's like you to act that way, fool. I've gotten used to it." He replied back, closing his wine-colored eyes.

"But why would Nel act that way to you? I mean, sure, you're a heartless, pain in the ass jerk, but she's always tolerated that side of you." Cliff began, placing his cup down on the mahogany table.

"Cliff…" Albel called, the subtle hint of a threat beneath his tone of voice, but the blonde chose to ignore it.

"And yeah, sometimes you say things that don't mean exactly what you said, but—"

"You say one more word, I'll gut you," Albel threatened, the dark hiss in his voice cutting the larger man off. Knowing that he was way out of turn, Albel sighed, taking another sip from his coffee.

"I just don't know what's wrong with her now, maggot. After all, she was in a bad car accident…"

**((scene change))**

Nel moaned softly, signaling that she was beginning to wake. She felt a mild headache pounding on her mind, making it hard for her to open her eyes for it eased the pain slightly. Yet surely and slowly, she did, and was soon greeted by another familiar face.

"… Mirage!" Nel cried out after her vision cleared and she saw the female blonde-haired Klausian again, grateful that it wasn't Albel. She tried to sit up, but Mirage gently, but firmly pushed her back down against the pillows.

"Ssh… Nel, take it easy. Right now, you shouldn't be moving so hastily, it'll only damage you a bit more if you do so." Mirage soothed, pulling up the blankets more around the red-haired Crimson Blade as if she was a child.

Soon, Nel was faintly aware of the bandages that circled her head. An injury, she thought. But when? Oh, right. The accident that happened in Peterny…

Suddenly, Nel shot up, despite what Mirage had told her, and grabbed Mirage by the shoulders. "Mirage! Tell me the situation in Peterny! How is Clair handling the situation? And how long have I been—"

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, Nel! And what are you talking about? Peterny? What's that?" Mirage questioned, utterly confused and bewildered at her friend's behavior.

Nel was taken aback by what the blonde-haired Klausian said. "What are you talking about, Mirage? You know about the town of Peterny! The accident that happened with an inventor inside the workshop… And has Her Majesty heard about the explosion? And you know the planet Elicoor! Tell me, Mirage!"

Though, a sudden jolt of pain erupted through her head, causing Nel to cringe back. Noticing the recoil, Mirage gently pushed the Crimson Blade back against the pillows again while trying to digest all that her friend had said.

"I'm sorry to say Nel, I don't understand of what you're talking about. Peterny? That's a town? And why are you saying Her Majesty? You don't serve royalty today, and last I checked, the planet that we're on is not Elicoor." Mirage replied.

That sentence alone stopped Nel short. What the hell was going on? First she finds Albel the Wicked in the same bed as she, next, she finds that she's his _wife_ and that he's her _husband_, and now she's having this weird conversation with Mirage Koas that made no sense to her at all.

_What exactly 'did' happen to her in that explosion?_

_Elicoor… Her Majesty… Aquaria… Peterny…_

_What had happened to it all?_

Slowly, Nel let go of her friend and stared at her hands, showing that at several places on her arms she had bandages wrapped around wounds. Then, she spoke, "So… Where the hell am I? And… How did I turn out like… This?" Nel asked, pointing out her head and arms to empathize what she meant.

Sighing, Mirage took her seat next to the bed and stared straight into Nel's emerald-colored orbs.

"Nel… You were in a car accident a year and a half ago… And… This planet isn't called Elicoor. It's called Earth."

**((end chapter))**

Well… I hope I didn't confuse anybody with this chapter! And I hope that his explained some things as to where this story is going! So, if you want to see what happens in the next chapter, click on that button down there and review! Thanks again!


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